Property investors in Australia are entitled to a wide range of tax deductions to maximise their taxation benefits. If you are a property investor, you should take advantage of all the applicable deductions that are available to you.

Though many investors are frequently aware of write-offs such as deductions for their loans, council rates, property management fees, repairs and maintenance charges, depreciation is often an ignored aspect in the write-off process.

What deductions are you entitled to claim?

• Interest paid on the loan used to buy the property.
• Repairs done to the property while it is leased
• Improvements need to be depreciated and then claimed.

Other claimable deductions include:

• advertising for tenants
• bank charges
• body corporate fees
• cleaning
• council rates
• electricity and gas
• gardening
• lawn mowing
• in-house audio/video service charges
• insurance
• land tax
• legal expenses releases etc.
• lease costs
• pest control
• mortgage discharge expenses
• property agent’s fees
• quantity surveyor’s fees
• security
• stationery
• postage
• telephone
• water charges
• lenders mortgage insurance

What Is Property Depreciation?

Over time, several components of a building structure starts to deteriorate or depreciate as it ages. This also applies to any items present within the property. As per the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), property investors who earn an income from their investment property can deduct the cost of depreciating their assets from their taxes.

Deductions for depreciation fall into the following two divisions:

Division 40: Plant and equipment depreciation

Division 43: Capital works allowance

What is needed for completing a tax depreciation schedule?

The tax office requires some simple information from a property investor, like the name that will appear on your depreciation schedule, the address of the property, details about the acquisition, and contact information of the property manager.

If you need professional assistance to help you out in completing the requirements of tax depreciation schedule, feel free to contact our tax consultants. We’ll arrange an appointment with you to inspect all the things that need to be depreciated.